The Konica Hexar RF is a 35 mm rangefinder camera which was sold by Konica. It was introduced to the market on 13 October 1999. and subsequently discontinued (apparently without official notice) some time before the end of 2003. The camera used the "Bayonet Konica KM-mount", a copy of the Leica M-mount, thus sharing interchangeable lenses with those designed for Leica cameras and others compatible with them. The Hexar RF has a combined rangefinder/viewfinder modeled on that of Leica cameras, a similar body shape and size - and so is similar to Leica M-mount cameras in many aspects of operation.
Lens mount The Konica Hexar RF accepts lenses designed for the "Bayonet Konica KM-mount" a copy of the Leica M-mount. Because of this, the Hexar RF can mount and focus lenses designed for the Leica and other compatible M-mount cameras or, when used with an adapter, the earlier Leica thread mount lenses (note that due to physical constraints there is no adapter to allow bayonet mount lenses to be fitted to a Leica screw-mount camera). When first released there was some controversy and discussion about whether the "Bayonet Konica KM-mount" of the Hexar RF was, in fact, fully compatible with the Leica M-mount. Some earlier testers reported problems using Leica lenses on Hexar RF cameras. Konica made no comment on the issue, and continued to refer to their lens mount by their own name, with no reference to Leica. Other testers found no problems, and suggested that early reports may have related problems with early-production samples or to cameras at one end of a tolerance range matched with lenses at the other, and so claimed there was no systemic problem. The latter seems to have become the consensus view. Many users report using Leica and Konica lenses and cameras interchangeably with good results, including lenses of longer focal length or wider maximum aperture where problems are more likely to be encountered.
Viewfinder/Rangefinder
The Konica Hexar RF camera uses a viewfinder combined with a lens-coupled "split-image and double image rangefinder" with illuminated, parallax-corrected, brightline framelines. As such it is very similar to the viewfinder/rangefinder of Leica M-mount cameras (if, perhaps, not as bright). The brightline framelines that show in the viewfinder are selected from one of three frameline pairings, depending on the lens (or lens adapter) mounted on the camera:
50 mm and 75 mm 28 mm and 90 mm 35 mm and 135 mm These pairings are the same as those used for later Leica M series camera viewfinders (Leica M4-P and subsequent models) and use the same frameline selection mechanism at the lens mount. A frameline preview lever on the front of the camera allows for temporary selection of a frameline pair other than the one selected by the mounted lens. The .60x magnification used in the Hexar RF viewfinder allows for all framelines to be easily seen, including by those wearing eyeglasses - even the 28 mm frameline (the largest). This also allows for generous amounts of "outside the frame" space in the viewfinder for other focal lengths, which can aid photographic composition. However, the reduced apparent size of the viewfinder image can make composing and accurate focus more difficult when using longer focal length lenses. (Note, by way of contrast, that the "standard" Leica viewfinder magnification has been .72x from the Leica M2 onwards, with .58x and .85x as options on more recent models including the current M7 and MP models.)
Camera body The Konica Hexar RF is similar in form-factor to Leica M-mount cameras, being slightly larger than the archetypal Leica M3 design in all dimensions, and just slightly heavier when batteries are fitted. Body construction is a cast-aluminium chassis with titanium top and bottom plates, finished in flat black, with a rubberised cover and slightly raised hand-grip. The chassis of the Hexar RF appears to be identical to that used by the Contax G2, with different top and bottom plates and similar but not identical film transport and shutter mechanisms. While the Hexar RF appears in some ways similar to the earlier auto-focus Konica Hexar camera, it seems to share few if any components with that camera. Major controls, including shutter release button, surrounding off/mode switch, film-speed/exposure-compensation dial and shutter speed dial are located on the right-hand side of the top plate, as seen from the rear, as is the LCD displaying the current frame count. The viewfinder is located on the upper left-hand side of the camera. The manual rewind button, release catch for the camera back and cable release socket are on the left-hand side of the camera. The lens mount release and frameline preview lever are located on the front of the camera. The bottom plate has the cover for the batteries and a tripod socket.
Film transport The Konica Hexar RF has a hinged, swing-open, camera back with cut-out view window to show the film loaded in the camera. Film loading, advance and rewind is motorised and automatic. A button to manually trigger film rewind is also provided. Film sensitivity can be detected via standard DX encoding or the ISO value can be selected manually. Film is automatically advanced to the next frame (and the shutter cocked) after each shutter activation. Shutter release and film advance are as described under shutter below. When the end of a film is reached (or the manual rewind button pressed), the film is wound back into the film canister, with a brief pause to allow the film to be removed "leader out" if desired. Film transport is very different from Leica M-mount film cameras, which require manual film handling through a removable bottom plate and flip-up camera back, with film advance and rewind using manual levers and rewind cranks.
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